The Franklin Family Christmas

Riley quickly catches on to the idea of opening gifts at Christmas. She eagerly awaited each gift as they came her way!

Riley pushes Conley in the doll stroller. Conley fits in the stroller because she got the teenie tiny tushy from the Korean side....where as Riley got the ghetto-booty from her mommy and daddy! Sorry pumpkin!

Little Elf

We attempted to visit Santa today, however, he wasn't going to arrive until 4pm and it was only 2pm! Riley would not have lasted until 4, so we called it a day and took her picture as an elf! This elf needs a tan!

Ms. Independent wants to do it all by herself!

Riley's new thing...."no no no no". She even says it to herself when she is getting ready to do something she shouldn't be doing (like playing in the dog water).

Just want to incl. Psalm 15. I am going to try and memorize it and strive to live by it.

"He whose walk is blamless and who does what is righteous, who speaks the truth from his heart and has no slander on his tongue, who does his neighbor no wrong and casts no slur on his fellowman, who despises a vile man but honors those who fear the Lord, who keeps his oath even when it hurts, who lends his money without usury and does not accept a bribe against the innocent. He who does these things will never be shaken."

Denim Day

Sweet, Sassy, and Sad!
This is what I saw all day today! Riley has her 2nd UTI. She was so fussy, and rightfully so!
Just an update...Riley is improving daily with her walking. She can walk clear across the house, but still struggles a little with her balance. She is starting to walk with things. like a toy or sippy cup, in one hand, so it is getting better. She is still working on standing without pulling up. She needs to strengthen her quads, so we will be doing some exercises with that.
Riley is at such a fun age. She is like a little sponge. She is starting to really grasp things and she truly studies things....I love watching her learn and grow. It is so rewarding as a parent (even though I can not attribute it to me!).
She loves to look at pictures....esp. of Daddy. She looks at pictures of cousin Emory with the most inquisitive look....like she just can't place where she knows her from...but that she knows her!
Anything that looks like a dog....is a dog. Cows say moooo, but called a dog. Same with cats, etc.

Donnie and I went to a wedding last night. We haven't been out in a while, so we kind of considered it a date. It was so nice to have adult conversation. There was a little boy about 3 sitting next to us at the table and I kept thinking I needed to tend to him (since that's what I do ALL DAY LONG), but I was FREE....and boy did it feel good. No juice, goldfish, diaper bag, toys, no wolfing dinner down in 2 minutes flat, etc. Just Donnie and I, enjoying our surroundings and eating our dinner SLOWLY! HOWEVER.....we couldn't stop talking about Riley with one another, and we missed her terribly. That was only a few hours....what am I going to do while I am in NY next week? Three days away from Riley. I am so nervous. I am going to miss my little pistol like crazy!

Grilled Elmo Anyone?

Okay, let's see if I can describe these pictures in order, I'm not sure if it will upload in the same order. 1) Riley grilling Elmo (or as she says, Memo), 2) Riley in the kitchen, 3) on a horse, 4) Uncle Donnie and cousin Corbin on turkey day, 5) Miss cousin Conley struttin' her stuff on turkey day, 6), 7), and 8) at the park on turkey day.

Sorry it's been so long since I have posted anything. Here are some updated pics of Miss Riley. She is walking pretty well now. She walks a lot, but not consistantly. She will walk clear across the room, lose her balance and fall, and then just crawl. She doesn't know how to get from the floor to a standing position without pulling up on something....but as Angie heard on the phone tonight....she is trying.
Riley finally started saying "HI" (of course not near the phone when someone is on it, but always when no one is on it!), but it sounds more like "Ieee". She also says ou, ou every time she falls. She will be an attention grabber for sure. Her ringlets already reel people in, and she doesn't mind it a bit.

We met with a genetics doctor yesterday to get some more information on our chances of having another baby with SB. Her opinion is that Riley's birth defect was completely unrelated to mine. She really feels that I do not have any syndrome of any kind and that Riley's SB just happened. Any mom has a 3-5% chance of having a baby w/ any birth defect, we have an increased risk of having another baby with SB by 2-3%, and if I take 4x the recommended dosage of folic acid, it reduces it to 1% chance. (note: taking the recommended dosage of folic acid, that is what is already in prenatal pills, reduces the risk of having a baby with SB by 70%....which I did for 10 months before I even got pregnant....I guess we were in that other 30%, or it had nothing to do with a folic acid deficiancy). Anyways, I will always search to find a reason why this happened to Riley.
So.....we still are not decided either way, but my heart is more at ease at possibly having another child of our own one day. Like I said before, we are in no rush. We still feel like we have more research to do as well.

We are so excited...tomorrow will be one of those days when you have no reason to be out on the roads. We are housebound because of the "Winter Freeze", good excuse to just veg. out.

Ducks and Yoga!

Here is Riley with Pappa ET/Grandad at the marina. They had lots of fun feeding the over-fed ducks and the very big, always hungry carp. Riley just soaked it all in. She loves saying and signing duck and also says kakak (Quack, quack).
ET and Riley also had time for some yoga with JoJo's Circus. They learned the downward facing dog.
Riley had a blast showing off to ET and Sandy. She walked for them and chatted a lot about her toys. Her favorite word right now is "yeah"....we will have to work on her manners (although she does sign please and thank you)!

Donnie comes home from Vegas tomorrow.....YEA! He is at the Ocularist/Ophthamology Convention. Mommy is ready for a break!
He went to see the Blue Man Group last night and loved it. Can't wait to hear about the rest of his trip...ocularist stuff! (I have to admit, I miss that stuff....maybe in the future I can finish what I barely started).

Decision 2006/2007

The past few days have been full of deep thought and heavy duty prayer! We are preparing, with a lot of research left to do, to make a very important decision....do we adopt or do we have another baby of our own ?????????????????????? ??????? ???? We are in no rush what-so-ever, but feel the need to embark on this scary, yet wonderful (either way) adventure now, (I have to be on extra folic acid at least 6 months prior to getting pregnant, and as I am sure you know, adoption is a very lengthy process as well)! We have so many questions that need to be answered! We are getting different answers as to the chance of us having another child with spina bifida....1%, 3-5%, or same chance as everyone else if I take 4x the recommended dosage of folic acid. What scares us is what if it is not related to my folic acid intake....what if it is related to the possible genetic disorder I may have (they can only prove I don't have a genetic disorder by 60%.....well, 40% is a big #, and obviously something went wrong the first time). If we knew that the worst it could be would be like Riley's severity of SB, then hey....we'll take the risk and FROG it (Fully Rely On God) :) . Riley's case of SB is mild (it's the most severe type, but a mild case of myelomeningocele). But spina bifida is crazy. It affects and involves more than you would think, ie. the eyes, brain, eating, breathing, major nerve damage (paralysis), bowels, bladder, and on and on and on. And the severity of each thing I just mentioned varies greatly too. Some of these things are things that we have to still watch for with Riley. Could I do it again.....but worse? I don't know? It would tear our hearts apart. So I guess what I am asking from you is heavy duty prayer. I do hope God makes the answer clear to us. Until we get that answer, let the research begin! Information and advice (we may take it or leave it!) :) on both topics are greatly welcome!

Picture incl.: We have found a great babysitter who we just adore. Riley just loves her! Riley's top choice of communication is signing, she says stuff, but would rather sign. Jessica is very fluent at signing and helps Riley along! Jessica took these pictures of Riley the other night. Clif, Angie, Jonathan....you would be so proud....a future concert pianist niece!
Sorry for the spelling errors...I am so tired and spell-check isn't working!

OH! AND MOST IMPORTANTLY....RILEY IS TAKING ABOUT 8-10 STEPS IN A ROW, BY HERSELF. She is getting so brave, just taking off from the couch or a big toy and walking away. IT'S AWESOME! She needs more work on her balance, but she is almost there. She is also doing well learning how to stand up by herself without holding onto anything to get up. God is good, all the time. All the time, God is good. (just shout it, like we do in church...it feels great!). Okay.....off to bed!

Riley is all tucked into her little nest, sound asleep like a good little bird should be at this hour. She is worn out from a busy day of doctor's apts in Dallas and a fun fall festival at the church. As you can tell, Riley was a blue bird. I am honestly surprised that her costume came together, and that she left it on!
Donnie and I went to a costume party on Sat. night dressed as Dr. 90210 and one of his plastic-y patients. Dr. 90210 is a rediculous show on the E channel about plastic surgery performed by a rediculous dr. who pumps iron before he performs surgery and cuts the sleeves off of his scrubs. I taped a "Dr. Rey's to-do list" on my hospital gown with all kinds of crazy things on it. I had a fake butt on my back side!
Enjoy!

Oh where, oh where did she get those curls!

People ask me all of the time if her hair is naturally curly???? I think that if it weren't...Riley would have a ton of burn marks from the curling iron because this child does not sit still for much of anything! As her hair grows....it seems as if the curls are getting tighter. We are still not sure where the curls came from....maybe Uncle Travis!

Fall Fun!

A day at Green Meadows Farm with my friends, Jillian, Jayna, Chloe, and Sidney!

My latest project

Here is my latest project. The room is so cool, with a stage, a playhouse built right into the room, and a special closet just for dress-up clothes (the door is sized just for children!). The house is beautiful...and big, 7,000 sq. ft. Oh, the life of the young and wealthy!

SO CLOSE!

Riley is so close to walking on her own! She is gaining more strength and more confidence everyday. Mom and I took her to see the orthopedic doctor the other day and he still says no braces, and that it should be soon that she walks. I asked him about her feet rolling in and he said lots of kids without spina bifida or anything have feet that roll in...it's just part of learning to know where your feet are and how to place them. Her hips are in place and look great too.
Here she is pushing a doll umbrella stroller, it is very unstable, so she has to use a lot of her own strength to balance herself.
Mom left yesterday. We miss her and wish they lived closer. I can not believe how Riley immidiatley remembered her. She had no anxiety toward her at all.....in fact, I think she prefered hanging out with cool Lu Lu over mommy!

One year left....ahhhhh 30, here I come!

I can not believe I am 29, yikes! Life goes by entirely too fast. Riley is getting so big! She took 3 steps today! Lulu, she had a blast playing in her ball-pit today, I love those deep belly laughs when she is having so much fun. Tomorrow she has her first school photo shoot! I am so excited for her. I'm sure she will be looking backwards, yanking on the back drop, or biting the photographer so she can play with the camera. In these pics, Riley and Donnie playing in the ball pit, and Riley enjoying her favorite veggie, corn...she eats her whole (half) cob. Don't you love her tan line at her neck!

I was going to title this entry "Why bad things happen to good people"...but didn't want it to be so depressing. However, I just want to say that I just read on the bottom of the tv screen on "E" that Rev. Run (Run DMC) and his wife just had a baby that was born with all of it's organs on the outside. It did not survive long after birth. There was a baby at the NICU the same time Riley was there that had the same thing. They sort of explained it as the same thing as what Riley was born with...but in the front....instead of the spine and spinal cord not fusing and closing, the chest bones never fused. They had been waiting for a few months already and had not closed her up, I guess research shows it's better to wait. I wish I knew how that little girl was doing. Anyway, I remember watching Run's reality show every once in awhile earlier this year. I remember them talking about trying to have a baby. Run seems like a very genuine person and extremely focused on his family...not like some crazy rap star. I guess what I am getting at is that knowing in part what this family is dealing with, I feel a deep pain for them. Trust me when I say that I wouldn't trade Riley or her condition for the world, it will make her who she is....but to go through the pain again....or to watch her struggle as she learns to walk....I wish I could make her whole. We are forever thankful that we were chosen to be her parents, and she amazes us everyday, by far surpassing what the doctors expected.
I know HE will get Run and his family through this painful time....HOPE, it's what got us through!

Ohhh...the joy's of being a mommy!

After almost 3 weeks...I think Riley has finally kicked everything and is no longer sick!!! She started with a run-of-the-mill cold, which caused an ear infection. While dealing with the ear infection, she got her 1st UTI, and while dealing with both infections...she got the chicken pox (1 week before she gets vaccinated)! Now, she is teething...so she's just a little fussy! She has been such a trooper! I am so proud of my little girl! I know she is always going to be a tough cookie! Her life may have it's fair share of curve balls, but she will always have Dada and me to lean back on...although, I have a feeling that she will be the type to do everything on her own, and if we give her advice, she will probably do the opposite (don't you love how I am analyzing her personality...but if you were with her day in and day out, you would believe me...she is sooooo fiesty.......and I love it!). This picture was the only one I took yesterday where she was actually not frowning. In the others she has what I call the Franklin Frown. If you are a Franklin or know a Franklin...then you know what I am talking about (esp. Donnie and Travis!). I knew she had the Franklin Frown when we did her 3-D sonogram. Not only did she have the frown, but also a more subtle version of Donnie's cereal bowl dimple in her chin (it will surface when she loose her baby fat, it's just hiding).

Why the pumpkin patch?

"Pumpkin" is what we call Riley. Ever since we took her to the pumpkin patch almost a year ago...we concluded that Riley was our little pumpkin, and that's not just because of her rolls and dimples! In October, I will post another picture of her at the pumpkin patch!